The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has thrown meeting professionals in an unprecedented position with cancellations, postponements and venue closures affecting the course of the next few months, at least. From tips on how to move forward with scheduled events to filing your taxes under the new deadline, we’ve got the answers to your burning questions.
Survivor Diaries: Lessons for Planners on Conquering COVID Disruptions
The last six months have been a roller coaster for meeting professionals. In a lively webinar last week, Smart Meetings founder and CEO Marin Bright gathered four Smart Women in Meetings Award winners to find out how they conquered COVID disruptions and positioned themselves to thrive in the future.
How to Safely and Effectively Return to Meetings and Events Post COVID-19
Providing peace of mind to help attendees feel confident and safe is the ultimate business goal now. Although many of these tips may seem like extra work, they will save time and businesses in the long run.
7 COVID-19 Strategies for Independent Planners
Coronavirus cancel culture could be deadly for many third-party planners. Independent planners began asking for help, so they didn’t bear an outsized share of the burden.
Taking a FAM in My Pajamas
Senior editor Gary Diedrichs goes on a FAM in Rockford, Illinois. From his home office in California. In his pajamas. The idea of virtual FAMs has been out there, but it is now more alluring than ever.
How Will Events Change Post-COVID-19? Experts Chime In On #MeetingsChat
Mutual support and optimism was trending during a joint Twitter Chat moderated by Smart Meetings and Meetings Mean Business. Industry professionals showed the true definition of #HospitalityStrong in 280 characters or less. Here are the highlights.
When Venues Reopen, How to Know They’re Safe
As COVID-19 wanes and people begin meeting again, what should planners know about precautions venues must take to ensure clean, safe spaces? With many convention centers serving as temporary field hospitals, what disinfection standards should planners insist on?
How to Write Force Majeure to Protect Your Meeting from the Next Pandemic
One of the serious side effects of the wave of coronavirus cases across the world was a sudden rush to learn a foreign language—or at least two words that had largely passed under many meeting professionals’ radar for years: force majeure. Find out what you need to know here.
Risk Management: Addressing Meeting Emergencies When the Industry Resumes
How will meeting professionals address risk post-COVID-19? In our latest Smart Meetings #HospitalityStrong webinar, Kevin Coffey, senior travel and meeting risk consultant at GoldSpring Consulting, addressed what both meeting planners and hoteliers should be asking when we all begin meeting again.
3 Tips for Managing Coronavirus Fear in the Meetings Industry
If you are afraid right now, that could be a good thing for your future as a meetings professional, according to Judi Holler, author of Fear is My Homeboy: How to Slay Doubt, Boss Up, and Succeed on Your Own Terms.
4 Contingency Planning Scenarios You Need to Prepare For Today
Carol Davis, owner of CPER Productions & Incentives, specializes in contingency planning for experiential events and incentives and she has some suggestions that could make the next black swan a little bit less jarring.
Tips for Slaying the Quarantine
While the slowdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is challenging, it also presents an opportunity to find out what works best for you mentally and physically, personally and in your career. The first in a series of “Slaying the Quarantine” webinars featured insights from industry professionals from many different perspectives on making the most of our situation.
Keep Calm and Plan On: How to Prepare for a Post-pandemic World
Our April cover story covers the impact and predictions of COVID-19 on the meetings industry. From no handshake policies to virtual tools for online meetings, we are sharing the lessons we learned—and how they apply going forward.
How Do You Lead During a Pandemic?
As if being a leader of people isn’t hard enough, now you have to worry about leading people during a global pandemic. How do you keep your team motivated and productive? What do you need to do differently? What needs to stay the same? Here are five tips to get you through
VR Site Inspections Keep RFPs Moving During Coronavirus Down Time
What was a cost- and time-saving novelty two months ago has now become a vital solution during the “coronareality” of today. Virtual site inspections make it possible to experience a ballroom while still practicing social distancing to slow the spread of coronavirus. Smart Meetings asked the experts about how realistic VR tours are today—and what to ask when setting one up.
Planning Tips for the Covid-19 Age
Event planners have been sidetracked by the coronavirus pandemic, wondering about the best route to take. Cancel? Postpone? Claim force majeure? It seems that many of them are doing a combination of all three. Smart Meetings spoke to meeting planners and destination representatives to find out how they’re managing responsibilities in the current climate.
4 Tips for MeetingProfs Filing 2019 Taxes in the Year of Coronavirus
The United States Secretary of the Treasury postponed the deadline for filing 2019 federal tax returns to July 15, 2020 with no penalties or interest due to disruptions connected to coronavirus. We consulted the experts and put together some tips for getting your receipts in order during any down time.
COVID-19 Considerations for Meetings Contracts
Do meetings cancelled as a result of coronavirus concerns quality as force majeure? Lisa Sommer Devlin, J.D., attorney at Devlin Law Firm, explained in a recent Smart Meetings Accelerator webinar “COVID-19 Considerations for Meetings Contracts” that the answer is complicated.
Coronavirus Fears Force Go/No-Go Decisions for Meetings
We spoke to Mark Herrera, director of education and life safety with International Association of Venue Managers (IAMV), about his decision to carry on with his annual Academy for Venue Safety and Security, despite cancellations and concerns amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Planner Guidance from WHO for Keeping Attendees Safe from COVID-19
The World Health Organization (WHO), which is taking the lead on fighting the spread of COVID-19, has not issued a call to cancel conferences. Instead, it released a list of steps to take in workplaces and “mass gatherings” that can also help to prevent other infections, such as colds, flu and stomach bugs.
Planners Proactively Address Coronavirus Outbreak
Planners throughout the world are cancelling and postponing events, as well as keeping a close eye on those that are still scheduled to take place. Hotels are bracing for the spread of the virus, ranging from taking precautions with guests to, in China, temporarily closing more than 60 percent of hotels.
How to Protect Your Attendees from Coronavirus
Now that COVID-19, or the new coronavirus, has spread globally, shut down ground and air transportation and caused international event cancellations, protecting attendees from the disease has to move to the top of planner checklists. Smart Meetings talked to the experts for best practices.
How Coronavirus Is Affecting a Meeting Near You
Headline developments have focused on the outright cancellations of high-profile events, including Mobile World Congress, which was to have convened in Barcelona, Spain, with 100,000 attendees this month. Yet the impact of the virus is spreading far beyond these highly publicized gatherings.
Planners Scramble in Reaction to Coronavirus
With the attention of the world riveted on this spreading public health crisis, what has been the impact on group travel, conferences and planners—many of whom may have worked a year or more to stage meetings in China? Or who are depending on important keynoters from that nation?
For more, head to our all-encompassing Coronavirus Resource Guide.
